The present invention relates to an animal enclosure and more particularly to an animal transport unit designed to aid in the transport and confinement of medium to large size animals, such as dogs, small wild felines and the like.
One difficulty commonly encountered at dog shows is getting the heavier breeds of dogs from floor level to the top of a grooming table where the dog can be groomed and inspected. This is particularly true since more than half of dog handlers are women. Thus, considerable physical effort is required in lifting for instance a 150-200 pound dog onto the grooming table, in addition to the possibility of injuring oneself and inflicting injuries to the dog being lifted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,461 discloses an animal transport and grooming device which can be used to transport caged animals at showgrounds. Although such a device provides a tabletop member on which the animal can be groomed and inspected, one must still remove the animal from the cage transported on the device and lift the animal from a level close to the ground to the height of the grooming or inspection tabletop member.
Veterinary examination and treatment tables of the elevating type, on the other hand, are known, for instance from U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,432. These have been developed to lift animals from the floor to a suitable height for examination, diagnosis and treatment of minor conditions, without physical exertion and danger to the veterinarian. However, since there is no means for confining the animal once treated, the animal having undergone treatment may suffer a shock syndrome upon being transferred from the examination and treatment table into a cage for confinement and recovery.